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All aboard! Managing company-wide "release trains"

  • Fachvortrag
  • Lifecycle Management and Compliance
  • Kathryn Reeb

    Kathryn Reeb

    • Brainlab
  • Ashley Van Wely

    Ashley Van Wely

    • Brainlab

Contents

What would happen if, from one month to the next, your workload changed from a steady stream to a flash flood? In this case study presentation, we will share our real-life experience with “release trains” – a company-wide effort to align product releases across a large portfolio.  

Measures that are time and cost-saving in one area of a business can overlook and negatively impact other areas. What happens when writers no longer have deadlines sprinkled evenly throughout the year, but instead are given short time windows to complete months’ worth of work? And what happens to the quality and user-friendliness of your content?

You will hear about the challenges of stakeholder management both from a team lead and technical writer perspective.

Takeaways

We will share how our technical writing team spent the last few years transitioning from initial dismay to taking back control, using tested best practices and remaining focused on quality content.

Prior knowledge

No specific prior knowledge is required

Speakers

Kathryn Reeb

Kathryn Reeb

  • Brainlab
Biography

Over the past 17+ years, Kathryn has worked in the Technical Writing department at Brainlab, a medical technology company headquartered in Munich, Germany. She took over a managerial role as Team Lead in 2020 and is additionally the standard and process owner for the department.

The challenges and rewards of working in the medical device industry are exceptional. We are always striving to reach the balance between user-oriented documentation and regulatory requirements.

Ashley Van Wely

Ashley Van Wely

  • Brainlab
Biography

Originally from Canada and now based in Munich working as a Senior Technical Writer, Ashley began her career in Training & Development, where she learned to simplify complex topics and communicate clearly, skills that ultimately led her to technical writing.

For the past seven years at Brainlab, she has focused on software documentation, keeping user needs at the center while navigating evolving medical-software regulations. She works with cross-functional teams to ensure content is clear, accurate, and compliant, and truly enjoys making technical information user-friendly. It’s particularly rewarding for her to use these skills at a company that’s actively making a difference in the medical technology space.

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